9,000 Michael Jackson Fans Sign Petition Asking Discovery Not to Air Autopsy Special

Michael Jackson's estate has fired off an angry letter to Discovery Communications over an upcoming TV special that re-enacts the late singer's autopsy, TMZ reports.

Fans have already protested the special, with more than 9,000 signing an online petition asking Discovery not to air it.

John Branca and John McClain, who are co-executors of the estate, sent a letter to Discovery Communications president and CEO David Zaslav on Wednesday over what they called the "offensive, exploitative program," which is set to air Jan. 13 in the United Kingdom.

"Your decision to even schedule this program is in shockingly bad taste, insensitive to Michael's family and appears motivated solely by your blind desire to exploit Michael's death, while cynically attempting to dupe the public into believing this show will have serious medical value," they wrote in a letter posted online by TMZ.

"We were especially outraged when a sickening print advertisement for the program appeared making light of Michael's death by depicting a corpse sprawled on a steel gurney covered by a sheet with a hand sticking out wearing Michael's signature glove," they added, calling the ad "debased, sick and insensitive."

Discovery declined to comment on the letter when reached by The Hollywood Reporter.